Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!: The Inventive Rube Goldberg—A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines
by Catherine Thimmesh; illus. by Shanda McCloskey
Primary, Intermediate    Chronicle    56 pp.
5/25    9781452144221    $19.99

At the start of this peculiar book, we are shown the six simple machines: lever, wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, screw, and pulley. Then we meet an impishly grinning boy, presumably Rube Goldberg (1883–1970), on the title page; next it’s on to a convoluted table of contents over two spreads (a veritable Rube Goldberg machine of its own) before the narrative opens with the birth of Goldberg. Over the course of the book, readers learn more about him, his life, and his cartooning legacy—it’s those cartoons that inspired a variety of machines, the main purpose of which is to do something simple in a very complicated fashion. Along the way, an accessible (if lengthy) text covers the laws of physics, the six simple machines, and advice on how to build our own Rube Goldberg machines. McCloskey’s illustrations are equally adept at conveying concepts and humor, complementing Thimmesh’s text and serving as a bridge between narrative and expository information. A glossary and source notes are appended.

From the July/August 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.